“Falsos positivos”: eufemismos y otras estrategias que influyen en las representaciones mentales

Abstract

The Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP) revealed that at least 6,402 people were killed in Colombia between 2002 and 2008 to present them as casualties in combat. This is the period with the most cases of these homicides committed, to a large extent, by members of the Public Force, events that are known in the country as “false positives”. The article intends to explore the effects that the use of the phrase “false positives” generates in the mental representations of readers, based on identifying discursive strategies, such as euphemism. From the sociocognitive analysis of discourse, proposed by Teun van Dijk, we reviewed 20 press headlines issued by Colombian media in 2021, in which we found that the use of “false positives” is a euphemism positioned in the discourse of the media, which contributes to strategically cover up a criminal phenomenon that victimized thousands of civilians.